THE timing of a road-widening scheme in a South Lakeland village has been criticised for putting too much strain on residents.

Cumbria County Council is due to start work on widening part of Hollins Lane, at Burneside, later this month.

But local residents feel it is 'too much to take' on top of other traffic and infrastructure difficulties the village is facing.

In October, the village's Ford Bridge was closed due to 'significant deterioration' discovered during an inspection dive. CCC said at the time a replacement was planned for later this year.

Gayle Howarth, chair of Burneside Parish Council and Burneside Residents Association, said the latest planned disruption would push villagers too far.

"At the moment, Burneside is on its knees with its infrastructure and the condition of roads and traffic movement around the village," she said. "To pitch something else on us is just going to take the residents beyond what they are able to deal with."

Stan Collins, CCC member for the Upper Kent division, also thought the timing was poor.

"Closing that road is going to be awkward at any time," he said. "We have asked them (CCC) to re-schedule it.

"The main bridge is now only open to pedestrians and there are other bits of work going on around the village at the moment.

"I would prefer not to do it at this time if we can avoid it because it's something people are very concerned about.

"They have had a hard time with all the traffic in Burneside and I don't want to make it any worse."

The works as planned are expected to take 12 weeks, starting from January 22, but a spokesperson for CCC said having heard the concerns of local people, the council was reviewing the situation.

A spokesperson said: "CCC fully understands the disruption that will be caused by the works in Hollins Lane, whilst Ford Bridge remains closed. We are grateful to the local community for their feedback so far and we are currently reviewing our options in regards to the proposed scheme.”

The spokesperson added a meeting is due to take place this week involving the parish council, residents association, management of James Cropper Plc, and the county council to consider the matter.